Chapter 8. Asterix in Britain

ReneGoscinny

AlbertUderzo

The Romans have invaded Britain, but a village still holds out against
them. Asterix & Obelix cross the Channel to help the Britons repel the Romans...

This is advertised on the English translation as "The Greatest
Asterix Adventure." It's very good, especially the "Britishisms,"
but I suspect this is just good advertising... More early Asterix.
The final Fulliautomatix begins to harass Cacofonix here.

(alt.) 'O Fortuna' from 'Fortuna imperatrix mundi' the well known
orchestral work by Carl Orff's 'Carmina Burana'.

Page 3, Panel 10

Oxbridge - Oxford and Cambridge, the two universities famous for their
boat race.

Page 5, Panel 5

"A Garden is a lovesome thing, god wot!" - The first line of a famous
19th century poem by Thomas Edward Brown called "My Garden".

Page 5, Panel 6

Note the souvenirs on Asterix's shelf

Page 7, Panel 5-6

"Smaller than the garden of my uncle, but larger than the pen of my
aunt" - From the high-school English as taught in a popular English
method of instruction in France. The French edition uses "the helmet
of my nephew" for "the pen of my aunt". The book in French is full of
odd-sounding literal translations of English phrases like "I say",
"that's a bit of luck", "all that sort of thing", "goodness gracious",
"I beg your pardon"; the English edition conveys the effect by
overdoing the Bertie Wooster-ish talk.

Page 10, Panel 6

Alea jacta est = the die is cast (Julius Caesar)

Page 10, Panel 9

The Channel Tunnel or Chunnel.

Page 11, Panel 9

"In Rome do as Romans do" = St Augustine of Hippo was used to eating on
Saturdays, but in Rome was obliged to fast on this day. When he mentioned
this, St Ambrose replied "When I am in Milan I eat on Saturday; when I am
in Rome I fast on Saturday." Robert Burton, c. 1600 restated this phrase
in "Democritus to the reader" (Pt. 3 Sec. 4 Memb. 2 Subsec. 1), and it was
also mentioned more famously by Miguel Cervates in "Don Quixote" (Ch. 71)

Page 14, Panel 1

Does this refer to to the St. Andrews (even though it is further north)
golf course???

Page 15, Panel 10

The Beatles. It must be said that George Harrison looks strange.

Page 20, Panel 6

Uderzo momentarily forgets that the English drive on the left side of
the road. He got it right in Page 13, Panel 4.

Page 20, Panel 8

"London Bridge is falling down" - traditional children's song.

Page 21, Panel 4

The statue that Asterix and Obelix walk by is a take off of a famous
statue called 'Diana on the Hunt'. Except, in this version, Diana is big
and crushing the stag. This might explain Obelix's affectionate gaze at
her.

"Diana crushing the Stag" by Uderzo

"Diana on the Hunt"

Page 22, Panel 7

"Little Brown Jug" — a well known drinking song written by Joseph A. Winner (1837-1918).

Page 25, Panel 8

The present-day Tower of London, a popular tourist attraction, was
built on the site of an old Roman fort.

Page 28, Panel 6

Park Lane is a famous high-class residential area.

Page 28, Panel 9

The UK has many housing areas featuring identical dwellings (mind you,
so do many countries).

Page 32, Panel 1

"Drink to me only with thine eyes" - Ben Jonson, "The Forest. To
Celia", c. 1600.

Page 32, Panel 3

Rugby

Page 32, Panel 8

Mufti: plain clothes

Page 33, Panel 1-2

A Caricature of a "British Bobby" (policeman), complete with swinging
truncheon.

Page 33, Panel 5

Scottish bagpipes

Page 33, Panel 6-7

Sacred goose and hen???

Page 40, Panel 3

"that's not cricket" = not fair play; a common expression (also an
anachronism, given that cricket wasn't developed until the 16th
century)

Page 44, Panel 6

Fluctuat nec mergitur = It is swayed by the waves
but does not sink. Motto of city of Paris.

Table 8.2. Asterix in Britain - Names

Name (in order of appearance)

Comment

Cassivellaunos

Cassivellaunus: historical, fought Julius Caesar in 54 BC

Mykingdomforanos

Bang-on Cockney for "My Kingdom for an 'Os" ie., My Kingdom for a Horse,
the cockney dutifully leaving off the 'H' sound and consequently having to
use 'an' before a vowel instead of 'a' before an 'h'.
"A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a HORSE!" - Richard III
(Shakespeare).

(alt.) "my kingdom for a nose". Interestingly, the British chief is the
only character in the entire book with a small nose. In fact, compared
to the nose sizes of every other character (Gauls, Brits, and Romans) his
nose is so small that it almost looks like he doesn't have a nose at all."

Anticlimax

Anticlimax: a drop after a peak (climax). Note that Anticlimax, a
member of the tribe of Oxbridgienses, has extraordinary rowing skills.